“While grounded in the classical liberal arts tradition of rhetoric and public address, the communication discipline also responds to contemporary concerns about the processes and effects of organizational and interpersonal communications, the explosion of information technology, and messages generated by the electronic media.”

Jean Ward, Professor Emerita of Communication

The study of human communication has never been more current and crucial. It’s central to the liberal arts, and is a critical component in a wide range of disciplines and careers. Students in Lewis & Clark’s Department of Rhetoric and Media Studies examine the complex communication systems and processes that power an interdependent world.

The Department offers both a major and a minor, and course offerings cover three primary subject areas: interpersonal communication, rhetoric and public advocacy, and media studies. Students explore a variety of perspectives on human symbolic behavior, including the history of rhetorical theory and criticism; persuasion in contemporary public discourse; the dynamic processes of interpersonal, and intercultural communication; and the cultural practice of communication via print and electronic media.

There are countless opportunities for rhetoric & media studies students to make themselves heard on campus. Public Advocacy, Lewis & Clark’s forensics association, is consistently ranked among the top teams in the country; and our student radio station, KLC, broadcasts 7 days a week. Students interested in media production have access to digital editing equipment, digital camcorders, and a multiple-camera color production and editing studio in Aubrey R. Watzek Library.

Events

March 12th, 2015

Keynote Presentation: Putting Consumption in Its Place: Gender, Labor, and Politics in Complicated TimesTracey Deutsch, University of Minnesota professor, scholar of critical food studies and women’s roles in modern U.S. history

March 13th, 2015

The 2015 Lambda Pi Eta Film Festival is part of Lewis & Clark’s Festival of Scholars. This event aims to give student filmmakers the opportunity to showcase their work to the Lewis & Clark community, while providing newcomers to the field with a behind-the-scenes look at the visual media production process. Film is an important component of the Rhetoric & Media discipline, as it reflects the sociopolitical and cultural narratives competing for relevance at any given time. To learn about film is to learn about the world we live in! Join us in supporting the creativity of your fellow students, and get a taste for what film studies is all about!

April 19th, 2015

Student Activities is proud to present the premiere of SARA’S COLUMBINE a film by Justin Zimmerman.

SARA’S COLUMBINE is a documentary that focuses on one woman’s experience with the horrific 1999 school shooting, and how this historic encounter changed her during three distinct periods of her life. After she survived the massacre, Sara was featured on a multitude of media outlets, culminating in a Montel Williams Show ‘special’ just two days after the event. This footage, along with personal interviews conducted in 2005 and 2014 and hundreds of scanned photos, makes up SARA’S COLUMBINE, a powerful and inspirational personal journey.